Fight Inequality, Don't Scapegoat Immigrants

"The emergence of vast inequalities between the wealthy and the rest of us may be the biggest change in American society over the last fifty years. And it's hardly a change that we should welcome."

"In a late-August summary paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, economist Giovanni Peri concluded that "immigrants expand the economy's productive capacity by stimulating investment and promoting specialization. This produces efficiency gains and boosts income per worker. At the same time, evidence is scant that immigrants diminish the employment opportunities of U.S.-born workers."

I spoke to Peri recently, and he emphasized that there is some academic debate about whether new immigrants might have a small negative effect on the wages of those in the lowest-paid 10 percent of the economy. But there is broad consensus that, for the economy as a whole, immigration has had a positive impact on productivity, wages, and employment..."

to read Mark Engler's article published in: www.dissentmagazine.org September 13. 2010, click on